ALBANY - As New York's nursing shortage reaches what the Assembly Minority Republican caucus calls crisis proportions and threatens the delivery of quality health care, Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco (R,C,I-Schenectady-Saratoga) and the Assembly Republican Conference Tuesday called for legislative action to address the shortfall by providing educational and financial incentives to attract and retain nurses.

Tedisco and his Assembly Republican colleagues called for passage of their Conference's five-bill legislative package aimed at addressing New York's nursing shortage.

Numerous health care advocacy groups, such as the Health Care Association of New York State, have reported on New York's shortage of nurses and the detrimental impact it has on patient care.  A recent HANYS report stated that four out of five hospitals in the state are facing a nursing shortage.